Concurrent Observations Of Magnetic Reconnection From Cluster, IMAGE and SuperDARN: A Comparison Of Reconnection Rates And Energy Conversion

[en] Auroral emissions reflect energy dissipation in the atmosphere, while the energy mostly originates from the magnetospheric dynamics of the planet. In the Earth's magnetosphere, the interaction between the solar wind and the terrestrial magnetic field produces magnetic reconnection ultimately causing the appearance of auroras in the polar regions. In this study, we revisit two reconnection events previously identified using ESA Cluster observations during conditions of moderate geomagnetic activity, in the magnetotail. We compare these in situ detections with simultaneous global auroral images from the NASA-IMAGE satellite and ionospheric convection measurements from SuperDARN. We show for the first time a direct correspondence between the electric voltage estimated at ionospheric altitude and the reconnection rate at the reconnection site. We compute the total auroral precipitation power and compare it to the energy released from the reconnection site. We deduce that the precipitated electron power of the aurora and the electron energy deposition rate from the reconnection site are of the same order of magnitude, which means that the thermal energy released by reconnection is primarily transferred to the ionosphere and contributes to the auroral activity. ©2020. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Disciplines :

Space science, astronomy & astrophysics
Earth sciences & physical geography

Author, co-author :

Matar, Jessy ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Labo de physique atmosphérique et planétaire (LPAP)

Hubert, Benoît ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Labo de physique atmosphérique et planétaire (LPAP)

Yao, Zhonghua ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Labo de physique atmosphérique et planétaire (LPAP)

Guo, Ruilong ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Labo de physique atmosphérique et planétaire (LPAP)

Cowley, Stanley W.H.; Radio and Space Plasma Physics Group, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom

Milan, Stephen E.; Radio and Space Plasma Physics Group, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom

Gurgiolo, Chris; Bitterroot Basic Research, Hamilton, MT, United States

Language :

English

Title :

Concurrent Observations Of Magnetic Reconnection From Cluster, IMAGE and SuperDARN: A Comparison Of Reconnection Rates And Energy Conversion

Publication date :

2020

Journal title :

Journal of Geophysical Research. Space Physics

ISSN :

2169-9380

eISSN :

2169-9402

Publisher :

Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Volume :

125

Issue :

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Funders :

BELSPO - Politique scientifique fédérale
F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique
SFTC - Science and Technology Facilities Council

Available on ORBi :

since 13 May 2020

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